Adnan Asghar, Muhammad Ahsan-ul Haq, Muhammad Irfan Anwar, Muhammad Awais.
Effects of Extreme Dry Climate of Sudan on Pakistani Peacekeepers.
Pak Armed Forces Med J Jan ;67(1):166-70.

Objective: to determine the frequencies of nasal itching, epistaxis, dry/chapped lips and xerosis of skin among Pakistani peacekeepers exposed to the dry climate of Nyala, Sudan. Study Design: Prospective cohort study. Place and Duration of Study: Pakistan Field Hospital 6 Nyala, Sudan, from February 2014 to May 2012. Material and Methods: total 144 United Nations Pakistani Peacekeepers of Pakistan Field Hospital 6(all ranks) were selected by non-probability convenient sampling. the data consists of frequency of four symptoms was collected after three months of exposure to dry climate. Results: the most common symptom was dryness of skin (36.1%) followed by chapping of lips (29.9%) while nasal bleeding (epistaxis) was least common (9%). Significantly higher number of subjects of ages more than 40 years had nasal bleeding compared to the younger group (p value 0.002). Conclusion: Exposure to extreme dry climate affects skin and nasal mucosa. Frequency of epistaxis found to be significantly more in subjects older than 40 years as compared to younger ones.

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